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With a backlog that recently grew to nearly 17,000 requests, Toronto police say they can't keep up. Meanwhile, school and job placements are held up by months-long waits for clearance.

Fingerprinting is already required if police find a gender and birthdate match with a name in a database such as that used for pardoned sex offenders. New rules may require them for all applicants. (WADE SPEES / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A “catastrophic” backlog in Toronto police background checks for students, health professionals and other workers could grow worse if the RCMP makes fingerprinting a mandatory part of the process.

The Toronto Police Services Board is grappling with how to manage the 200 new requests for checks received each day, contributing to a backlog that peaked at almost 17,000 requests last year. Waiting times for a check can stretch for months.

At stake are timely job acceptance and school placements for thousands of applicants every year.

Police checks meant to uncover a potential criminal record are mandatory in a variety of workplaces. Last year, Toronto police received more than 108,000 requests for the two types of checks they provide.

The first kind is called a clearance letter, which shows a person’s criminal record and can be checked by any police force using a database called the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC).

The second type, called a “vulnerable sector screening” or VSS, is a more in-depth process and must be done by the police force where the person lives. Police use an applicant’s name, gender and birthdate to check against multiple criminal databases.

In a case where the gender and birthdate match with someone on a database, such as the registry for pardoned sex offenders, the RCMP requires fingerprints to confirm the applicant’s identity. That requirement is the result of a 2010 policy change aimed at capturing pardoned sex offenders who make an unreported name change.

But the RCMP may soon require everyone who needs a VSS check to submit fingerprints — which could have a “severe impact” on the system, according to a report from Chief Bill Blair to the board.

And the system could continue to be flooded with requests after future legislation changes that will require all Ontario health professionals — and possibly driving instructors as well — to get VSS checks.

At a board meeting Thursday, George Brown College student Chris Khan told members he was forced to withdraw from the personal support worker program in 2013 and was delayed for a year when he couldn’t get his VSS check in time for a placement.

Khan said he didn’t know the check expired every year and learned it needed to be renewed only a month before the placement was set to begin.

“I realized it would take me four to six months to receive my clearance. As a result, my spot in my program of study was at risk and my graduation was on the line,” Khan told the board.

Jason Powell, dean of the school of health sciences at Humber College, said the college is “extremely concerned” about the delays and potential loss of opportunities for students.

“That, to me, is catastrophic,” he said.

For employment fields that require a valid VSS issued within six months, such as long-term care, some checks have expired by the time they are needed, Powell said, creating an “impossible scenario.”

He said police resources have not met increased demand for checks as more sectors begin requiring them and school enrollment continues to rise.

And he questioned why 17-year-olds applying for public-sector programs need police checks when they aren’t old enough to have criminal records. Similarly, international students required to get checks in Canada are almost guaranteed to come back with blank results.

The overall effect, Powell said, is fewer resources in the community such as nurses and social service workers. “Then I think we’ve got a big national problem.”

Though the RCMP have been accused of contributing to the overall backlog, other police services in the GTA have reported much shorter wait times.

York Regional Police told the Star they could complete a VSS check in two weeks, while Peel Regional Police promised to do it on the spot.

For Toronto police, the current wait time now stands at eight weeks.

In a report to the board on last week’s agenda, Chief Bill Blair said a redeployment of staff reduced the VSS request backlog of nearly 17,000 applicants to 4,750, but the service had since received 7,206 new applications.

Blair said the current staffing of 11 to 14 employees dedicated to VSS checks throughout the week was “interim” and had an impact on other service areas because staff were shifted away from their usual tasks.

Councillor Mike Del Grande — a police board member who has spoken passionately on this issue since his own daughter waited three months to get a check for a placement — said the reduction in wait times is “not good enough.”

“Their lives are jeopardized by this piece of paper,” he told the board. “Whatever rabbits need to be pulled out of a hat, it needs to be done.”

Former mayor John Sewell, who heads the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition and has previously complained to the board about delays, said the system for checks is “beyond crisis.”

“This is creating work for police,” Sewell said. “This is not helping society.”

As they searched for solutions, board members moved to require the city, which currently does not pay for VSS checks, to begin paying those costs, starting in June. The money recouped will be put toward improving the overall system.

The board suggested in January that a two-week maximum be the standard wait time.

The board also asked Blair to look at the feasibility of a tiered pay system, much like passport applications, where checks could be expedited at a higher fee. They asked Blair to report back in April with options to prevent another big backlog.

The VSS check currently costs $50 for employment applications and $15 for volunteer requests.

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